Lucius is a large Forge World that produces everything from Astra Militarum infantry weapons to Space Marine battle tanks and mighty Battle Titans of the Collegia Titanica. It is known that Lucius is a Production Grade III-Prima Forge World with a Tithe Grade of Aptus Non, meaning it pays no tithe to the Administratum, as its industrial output is considered of potent strategic value for the Imperium in and of itself.

Contents

History

Lucius is one of the Imperium's Supernatura Majoris, a unique jewel in the Adeptus Mechanicus' crown. A hollow world, Lucius has been part of a grand experiment that should have destroyed it a dozen times over. In the centre of the planet's once-barren core is an artificial sun, a titanic fusion reactor that powers the industrial sprawl covering the inside of the world.

No one truly knows how this energy source came to be, though the planet's Tech-priests are quick to claim credit if pressed on the matter. Lucius' boundless power supply has kept it on the forefront of Imperial military innovation and production and has led to the creation of the sought-after alloy known as "Luciun." Although Lucius Pattern designs are used across the Imperium, this unique metal is used for masterwork pieces and bionics, as well as for armaments exclusively for the Forge World's own armies.

Many latter-day vehicles and personal weapons hail from this Forge World, and their numerous Ironstriders and Onager Dunecrawlers are the most bellicose of all the Skitarii Legions. The Titans of the Legio Astorum, known as the "Warp Runners," are the only god-machines sophisticated enough to teleport straight into battle. This is a point of pride amongst the Lucians, and cause of envy amongst other Titan Legions.

These all-too-human emotions have flared up into open conflict at times. The disastrous Inculcata Schism, which nearly saw the Forge World implode with force enough to rip a hole in reality, is only spoken of in whispers to this day.

Notable Events

The Dark Fate of Vheinos (221.M32) - When the astropathic choir falls silent upon the Civilised World of Vheinos, Forge World Lucius sends its Skitarii to investigate at gunpoint. The resultant rebellion sees heresy spread like wildfire, just as the Tech-priests had calculated. Within solar days the Skitarii find themselves outnumbered eighty to one -- a ratio high enough to trigger rad warfare protocols. A solar month later, the Skitarii leave the planet a lifeless wasteland, its astropathic duct excised and permanently relocated to one of Lucius' moons.

Hive Fleet Leviathan (997.M41) - The genius of Lucius' Tech-priests was displayed anew when the planet was invaded by a splinter fleet of Hive Fleet Leviathan. Despatching Lucius' Legio Cybernetica and a great host of Battle Servitors to the planet's surface, the Magi Dominus largely fought their battles from below the planet's crust. By tracking the motions of their servant clades and controlling their activities via electromagnetic data-tethers, they waged their war without risking direct harm. Such is the wonder of the Cant Mechanicus that their battle plans were enacted to the letter. Wherever the Tyranid swarms overcame their Servitor armies, the Tech-priests waited for the xenos predators to devour the biological components before sending Servo-skull swarms to carry the most vital of the remaining machine parts below the crust of the planet. There they were installed into fresh recruits, and the next wave sent back up to the surface. Deprived of bio-matter, the Tyranid splinter fleet was forced to feed upon itself to produce further troops, and the xenos could not keep pace with the recycled machinery parts and refurbished robots. Though it took solar months to accomplish, the resultant war of attrition ended in victory, for the Lucian armies fought like lions, and their hymns to the Omnissiah's glory did not cease for a single moment.

Forge World Dogma

The Solar Blessing

Lucius is renowned for its craftsmanship and its unique solar-blessed ores. Those clad in such raiment consider themselves armoured in their faith in the Omnissiah.

Lucius Forces Appearance

Lucius Iconography

The Skitarii cohorts bear the icon of Forge World Lucius. The illuminated letter that forms Lucius' icon is burnt into the planet's own surface, each detail a dozen Terran miles from top to bottom.

Lucius Forge World Colours

Like other Forge Worlds, Lucius maintains its own Skitarii forces to protect its interests, annihilating the enemies of the Tech-priests, and fighting at the vanguard of the Quest for Knowledge. The battle-plate of Lucius' Skitarii cohorts is dark, almost black in colouration. Like the armour of its vehicles, the plate is made from a rare alloy, scorched black by the artificial sun within the planet in a ritual known as the "Solar Blessing."

Ever since the Inculcata Schism, Lucius' Skitarii Legions have used the same system of markings as Mars. They even adopted the deep red of the first Forge World, an outward sign of obeisance to its laws, although the cream and dark metal of their planet's original heraldry lie beneath.

The Electro-priests of Lucius once wore only the cream and dark metal of their Forge World's original heraldry, but since the disastrous Inculcata Schism they have also wisely added the dark red of Mars to their heraldry, reaffirming their allegiance. Lucius' Kataphron Battle Servitors' exoskeletons are scorched black in the traditional rite known as the Solar Blessing. Ominous and stark, the heraldry worn by the Kastelan-class Robots of Lucius has remained unchanged for millennia.

Relics

The Solar Flare - The Solar Flare is a unique Lucius invention that combines that Forge World's knowledge of solar fusion and teleportation. It is a personal teleportation device that, when triggered, causes the bearer to burst from the Warp in a flash of blinding white light. The highly-coveted item has never been successfully replicated.